BATON ROUGE — A new survey from the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association paints a grim picture of the state's energy sector as it copes with the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and the oil surplus caused by the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
According to that survey, released by the lobbying group on Tuesday, energy producers may be forced to shut in more than half of the wells they operate in Louisiana unless they receive emergency relieve. The survey also found that those companies may have to reduce their workforces by as much as 70 percent. In addition, some of the companies that responded to the survey indicated that they are considering bankruptcy.
"Our members are doing everything they can to keep their doors open and protect their workers, whose livelihoods are at risk," LOGA president Gifford Briggs said in a press release. "But if prices don't recover above $40 per barrel by June 1, my members have told me it's going to be devastating. We cannot do this alone."
"Some of the smaller companies could be in a great position to be able to weather the storm," said Briggs. "Some of the larger companies as well. It's going to be a company-by-company basis. How they set themselves up. How they manage their finances."
In that press release, LOGA says it surveyed 450 oil and gas companies for this poll.
